Firestorm
by AkariSakumi
Summary: It's been 2 years since the Nest Incident, and everyone's growing up and beginning to fully understand their connections with each other. meanwhile, a presence has arrived at Berk, but how long until someone notices? TuffxOC with some HicxAstrid thrown in
1. Chapter 1

I love this movie! I've watched it three times just on DVD! I just love the twins! I started getting a few ideas, but I couldn't really string them together until I started listening to the soundtrack music. Hope this works!

**Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon, or any of it's characters. Nor do I want to, for I would not have done it justice.**

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As night settled over the empty ocean surrounding the large ship, several lamps were lit along the deck as most of the crew went below to sleep. Only a few watchmen remained, keeping a lookout for land, dangerous reefs, or other vessels.

A head of silver hair caught in the moonlight shining through the window of above deck cabin at the stern, which pulled back quickly as a lamp-bearing sentry passed. A moment later, the head reappeared, carefully swinging the window open so as to not make any noise. A bag was carefully lowered to the floor, followed by the unbooted feet of a girl, who looked around quickly in case anyone was near. When no one appeared, she quickly paced over to the railing behind the cabin, placing the stuffed bag into the small boat in its launching rig.

After shutting the open window behind her, the girl silently clambered into the stern of the vessel, grabbing the ropes tied to the pulleys on either end. She let them loosen a tiny bit experimentally, and thanked her lucky stars that the metal was well oiled and didn't squeal. Lowering the boat quickly she managed to get it settled in the water just as the lamp-light from another watchman neared her now empty cabin. Holding tightly to the ropes so they wouldn't move, she held her breath as the man paused on one side of the stern, then the other when he'd rounded the end, scanning the horizon.

The girl sighed as the man moved off, letting the ropes loose so that they would come out of the pulleys the rest of the way. She leaned back against the tarp covering her partially-pilfered supplies as the ship slowly pulled away. When the ends of the pulley ropes slipped from the rail, she quickly reeled them in and untied them from the ends of her small craft, adding them to her stores. She didn't dare pick up the oars yet, in case someone heard or saw her.

"Not yet, Storm." She muttered. "Just need to wait for them to do the distancing for me." Just then, the girl, Storm, heard a small scuffling under the tarp at the other end of the boat. She froze, her mind conjuring images of someone who'd been sleeping in the boat; someone who'd sound the alarm; she'd be dragged back onto the ship and locked up!

Storm almost yelped when something furry brushed her leg, and then she saw the tiny pair of eyes, glowing in the moonlight and blinking up at her. She could've laughed in relief, but for the need for silence. "Coal! What are you doing here?" she whispered, scooping the tiny, pitch-black kitten into her arms. "Though I suppose I am glad of the company; alright then, we're in this together."

Eventually, the ship was far enough away that Storm could risk rowing. She folded the tarp a few times until the bench was exposed, grasped awkwardly at the oars made for two grown men, and pulled at them for all her worth. She had to stop several times, her body being unused to the labor, and she had several large blisters on her hands within hours. She called it quits for the time being just as the sky began to pale in the east, stowing her oars and pulling the tarp back up just so it reached past the bench. Crawling so her head and upper body were beneath the shade of the tarp, she laid her head on a bundle of ropes, and was soon asleep as the boat gently drifted in the Northeastern direction she'd been rowing.

Storm awoke several hours later, with the sun much higher in the sky, but still tilting to the east, and she saw that her course had changed slightly, so that she was drifting eastward. 'That won't do. If the captain manages to get the men to come looking for me, they'll catch up by the end of the day!' she quickly turned the boat northward, and started rowing again, the blisters on her hands and the muscles in her arms screaming in protest. Wincing in pain, she wrapped her hands as best she could, and pressed on, while Coal idly watched her from his seat on the bench.

As noon passed, the hunger she'd so stubbornly ignored gnawed at her stomach, and was joined by the kitten pawing at her leg, mewling. Finally, she gave in, reluctantly unpacking a little of the smoked meat from one of the crates. Giving some to her companion, she quickly wolfed down the small meal, washing the taste away with a few sips from one of her canteens, before continuing the labor of crawling across the vast waters. As the sun set, Storm shared another small meal with the tiny black cat, and re-entered her shelter for the night.

When she next awoke, Storm was delighted to find that it was raining, albeit being very cold. She quickly sat up on the bench, giggling at the sight of her companion huddling miserably against the damp. When her head left the bundle of rope, Coal scrambled into it, curling up in the warmth she left behind. Storm basked in the rain, her mouth open wide to receive the life-giving liquid, allowing it to wash away the salt on her parched skin and the blood on her hands from her blisters, soothing the burning sensations in her sore muscles. The icy rain soaked her bright blonde hair, which had become even paler under the unrelenting sun.

After she'd spent a good deal under the weather, Storm relented to the shivers running through her body, and covered the boat the rest of the way to shelter it from the weather before retreating under the shelter herself. Stripping out of her soaked clothes, she set them aside to dry later, and wrapped herself in the cloak she'd brought and left under the shelter, allowing her body to relax for the time being. She wouldn't risk rowing when she had no direction to go by, in case she'd gotten turned around and ended up going back the way she'd come. Pulling the fabric around herself more snugly, she let the sound of the endless rain lull her back to sleep.

It was mid-afternoon when she woke again, this time from Coal's plaintive mews and her own hunger. Seeing as it was no longer raining, she pulled the tarp back over the bench, finding the clouds beginning to thin out as she fastened her cloak around her neck. After spreading her still-damp clothes out in the sun, she pulled another piece of smoked meat from the crate, allowing them to indulge in a bit of sourdough bread to go with it. By the time they'd finished eating, the sky had cleared enough so Storm could pick her direction.

Storm switched the cloak for her tunic, being the only thing dry enough to wear, and again seated herself at the rowing bench, sighing heavily as she took hold of the oars again. Remembering the words of the men she overheard, she continued north, stopping every now and then to scan for any promising signs of land. Or of a ship, which would not be nearly as welcome.

Storm spent the next three days rowing steadily northward, her blisters turning to calluses and her muscles hardening along the way. As her body became accustomed to the exercise, she was able to continue rowing into the night, and was not completely drained at the end of each day. She took to playing with Coal during their last meal each day, tying his food to a piece of string to drag around so that he had to catch it. She always tried to tire him out each day, so that he wouldn't wander the boat at night and fall out while she slept.

Around mid-morning on the fourth day, Storm finally spotted the tell-tale haze that marked land on the horizon, to the north and slightly west of her. Her energy and hope renewed, she altered her course for the land-mass, and could almost make out the tree-line by the end of the day. She went to sleep eagerly that night, content, excited, and more than a little nervous that she would reach the island by tomorrow.

As it turned out, Storm woke the next morning to find that she had already run ashore during the night. Jumping into the water, she quickly pulled the boat as far out of the water as she could, weighed down by supplies as it was. When she was finally satisfied that it would not easily drift away, she set to exploring the area for someplace safe to stay. From the looks of things, pretty much the entire stretch of beach she was on was walled off from the trees above by a wind and sea-smoothed stone wall about seven feet in height. deciding on the spot, she turned to follow the sand to the left, which continued straight for a while before curving to the right.

Storm had almost made it to the bend in the sand when a little 'mew' revealed that Coal had followed her all the way. Scooping the kitten into her arms, she continued down the beach, stopping short again just when she'd reached the curve of land. Just a few feet ahead lay a tiny stream flowing into the ocean, snaking its way out of a cut in the rock. Walking up to where the miniature cliff met the sand, Storm set the cat down to take a look up the waterway.

"Huh. Looks like we can get inland through here, Coal. But we should bring the boat around closer. I'm not for lugging that stuff all around the beach." Storm finished, turning back to her tiny companion, only to find her lapping greedily at the fresh water. Smiling, the girl stooped to drink her fill also, before again picking the cat up and carrying her back to the waiting boat. After finally getting back into the water, it was easy to row around to the crevice and pull the vessel onto the sand. She didn't try to pull it up through the creek, in case a sudden rainstorm flooded the stream out. Grabbing only her bag and a full canteen out of the vessel, she made room for the now sleeping kitten, and placed her in the top of the pouch before setting off up the stream.

The shallow waterway went further inland than Storm thought it would, the narrow channel winding this way and that through the earth that gradually sloped upward. After the ground had been level with the stream for a while, she had to stop when the water extended from under the roots of an enormous tree, which seemed to have sprung up in the gap between two sheer rock faces that she couldn't possibly scale. Looking the tree up and down, Storm noticed a branch that she might be able to reach.

Pulling her bag off her shoulders, she opened the pouch to find Coal blinking up at her, still waking up. Giggling, she set the cat on the ground nest to her, where she promptly began cleaning herself while the girl pulled a length of coiled rope from the bag. Looking around, she found an oblong stone that she managed to tie one end of the coil around. Much to her companion's displeasure, she scooped the cat back into the bag, sealing it shut and shouldering it again before standing.

Holding onto the other end of the rope, Storm swung the rock quickly before letting it fly towards the branch. She cursed a little as it fell woefully short, and she had to reel the rope back in. The second time was closer, but still a miss. The third try, she actually managed to get the rock over the branch, and was so shocked that her hold on the end of the rope loosened, and it was jerked out of her hands and over the branch, to fall on the ground again. It took several more tries, but she finally was able to loop the rope around the branch and, bracing her feet against the trunk, scale the tree until she was straddling the branch and pulling the rope back up for the next one. It was late morning by the time Storm managed to get high enough to climb to the top of the rock face and sit down, worn out. When she finally looked around, her eyes widened at what she saw.

She was standing on a rock that formed a complete wall around a decent-sized plot of land, encircling a pond, which was both feeding the stream she'd followed and being fed by one in turn. The ground was patchy at best, some spots being sandy dirt, while others were coated in thick grass, with several large rocks littering the ground. The tree she'd used to climb up completed the enclosure, the roots on this side vaulting up from the ground, creating a large shaded hollow.

"Looks like we've found our new home, Coal." The girl said over her shoulder, laughing when she received an impatient yowl in reply. After making sure her rope was tied tightly to the branch next to her, she carefully lowered herself down into the little valley. As soon as she'd reached the ground, Storm released the kitten from her pouch, giggling at the sight of her companion's energized spring from its carrier. Walking over to the hollow space beneath the tree, she was glad to find that it was one of the spots where grass could grow, and she set to work emptying the contents of her bag.

Storm had prepared herself as well as she'd been able to with the stores of the ship she'd left behind. Because of the way the men had stored things, they'd been forced to put many of the supplies on the lifeboats instead of below decks. And no one had questioned her when she would be seen 'reorganizing' the supplies. It'd taken her a few weeks to switch the supplies she'd need to the boat by her cabin, but it was well worth it. Just out of her bag came things like rope, a folded bundle of cloth, fishing line and several hooks, a couple knives, a small hammer and many nails, scissors, and even a few luxuries like a small metal bowl and plate, and a few pieces of cutlery.

After she and Coal shared a quick lunch, she shouldered her now empty pack and set off for the rope still tied to the tree-limb, after looking back to see that the kitten had curled up on the cloth she'd brought, asleep. Confident that she would be safe for a short time, she quickly scaled the rock face, pulling the rope behind her as she descended the other side. Smiling a little, she set off back down the stream.

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How's it so far? I try to get Storm's story in the 2nd or 3rd chapters. Review's please, and anyone who guesses the location correctly get's a COOKIE! Nom!

I have to say, I had a time picking my OC's name, as well as the title of the story. I wanted to keep with the 'Viking names' thing, while still having it work well for a girl. I have NO idea for a last name, though. Any suggestions?


	2. Chapter 2

Aw! I can't believe you guys! All those readers, and I only get one review? T_T Anyway, next chapter, and I'll be bringing in the other guys soon enough. I'm trying to decide which character gets the honor of discovering our young castaway. Right now Hiccup and Tuff are dukin' it out, since it was Hiccup's spot, but it's Tuff's girl. What do you guys think?

**Toothless: Akari doesn't own How to Train Your Dragon, me, or any of the other characters.**

**Me: O.O YOU CAN TALK?**

**Toothless: Well, duh.  
**

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Storm spent the next several days collecting her things out of the boat, starting with things like her food and spare clothing. The crates were far too heavy to lift by herself while full, so she had to transfer the supplies to her bag to be carried, then she would move the empty crate into the valley by use of her launching ropes before filling them again. All the while, she thought of ways to keep her craft safe and hidden. It was way too big for her to drag ashore on her own, and too wide to fit through the channel in the rock created by the stream. She finally decided to find another place where she could tie it safely.

So, the day after she'd brought off the last box, she grabbed a spare bundle of rope, and set off around the bend of the land she hadn't yet explored. As she rounded the corner in her little craft, Storm finally saw that, if she hadn't ended up on the mainland somehow, then she'd reached a very large island at least, for this stretch of beach went on for a few miles before it curved out of sight again. And she found just what she needed about a hundred yards away: a part where the sand curved inward, and another body of water was winding its way out of the trees, this part being level ground.

When she reached the larger stream, Storm was happy to find that it was deeper as well, and sought to steer the boat upstream. She'd barely gone a few feet, however, before the boat struck the bottom of the waterway. Deeper it was, but still not deep enough. Storm sat a while, stuck firmly in the sand, thinking. 'I don't really weigh a lot, so I doubt getting out of the boat will get me much farther. Maybe I could dig some of the sand out and make it deep enough.' She jumped out of the boat to take a look. 'Damn! It's all rocks and mud! I can't dig that up!' she straightened up, looking around until a tree branch extended just over the entrance to the forest caught her eye.

Storm already knew that the rope she had was too short to reach the boat, go over the limb, and extend down to where she could reach it. She began tugging at the bow of the craft anyway, her mouth set in a stubborn line across her face. For the better part of an hour and a half she pulled at the vessel, dragging it inch by inch through the muck until it was close enough. Quickly tying one end of her rope through the hole in the bow-board where the launching rope had previously been, she aimed carefully before releasing the coil. Her efforts were rewarded as the rope sailed over the limb and dropped several feet to where she could reach it. She rushed over, grabbed the rope securely, and gave a huge pull.

The vessel moved a lot easier than she'd thought it would, so that she almost fell over backwards as the craft was lifted onto its stern and dragged a few feet forward. Grinning in triumph, she pulled hand over hand on the coil, bring the boat farther and farther upstream towards her, until the bow hovered just in front of her face. She gently lowered it to the ground, and quickly selected a strong enough limb on a tree farther in to repeat the process; and another after that, before she was satisfied that the craft would be safe enough.

She tied the free end of the rope around a stout tree-trunk, checking the knots on both ends before she was satisfied that any flooding would not easily carry the vessel away. Knowing that she would not be able to find her way home through the trees just yet, Storm backtracked down to the beach, and it was getting dark by the time she scaled the rock face to her camp. Spent from the day's work, she shared a quiet meal with Coal before falling onto her impromptu bed, made up of a tarp making the base, the bundle of cloth for a blanket, and a grass-stuffed bag for a pillow, and was asleep within minutes.

Storm spent the next several weeks in projects to make her home more livable, starting with ways she could expand on what she ate, because there was only so much heavily salted meat and hard sourdough bread she could take. She'd seen the decent-sized fish leaping out of the water in the large pond that took up most of the little valley, and spent several days unwinding the cords of one of her ropes to weave into a net. Honestly, it took her longer to learn how to use the net properly than it had to make it. She eventually got it, though, and set to work making a way that she could more easily get in and out of her home.

Using slightly thick, strong branches from the larger trees, Storm set to turning her climbing rope into a ladder, knotting the wood at equal intervals into two ropes. The finished product was by no means easy to use, but it was safe and sturdy, and was easier than rock climbing every day, plus she could, if need be, quickly scale the rock face and pull the ladder up behind her, becoming unreachable.

Throughout this time, Coal became her steadfast friend, following Storm wherever she could, and becoming a welcome source of companionship and entertainment as she grew larger and more curious. Time and again she would cause the 16-year old to laugh when she would poke her head over the edge of an open crate, only to fall in with a startled yowl, or fall into the pond while staring at the fish. The cat grew more coordinated as she grew, however, and began to stalk the birds that visited their hollow. As the months passed, the temperatures grew steadily colder at night, and Storm found it necessary to wear her white-fur vest and a pair of leggings constantly just to drive off the chill.

The chill brought thoughts of the seasons to her mind one night, and she quickly counted up the time from the date of her escape from the ship to that night, startled when she realized that it would be October soon, meaning two things. One, she had to start hoarding up on food and wood before everything became bound in snow and ice; and two, her seventeenth birthday would be arriving in a little more than a month, on November 7th. The latter wouldn't have been that big a deal, except for if she never paid attention to the day, she'd probably forget her age sooner or later. Having no immediate jobs pressing, she resolved to spend all her time doing things to prepare for the winter, which was sure to be harsh if August had been chilly and rainy.

Fishing proved to be less fruitful than Storm had hoped, having decided to get her provisions from the sea, rather than over-fishing her small pond. She'd fashioned a crude rod with a long, straight branch, with the line and hooks she'd brought, but the waters seemed a little devoid of fish. She'd barely catch any of decent size throughout the day. Some days, when she grew tired of sitting on the sand all day, she'd switch to scouring the land for provisions. This proved a little more successful, as she managed to find edible sources of plant-life, though it seemed she didn't have any completion for food when it came to animals. She only ever saw small things like birds and rabbits, which she set many snares for.

Anything she did manage to catch, though, went straight to the fire to be dried or smoked so that it would keep. It took the last week of September and the entire next month, but she somehow managed to fill up one of the larger crates and a basket with provisions for the months ahead. After making sure that both of these were sealed tight against any marauders, including Coal, Storm set to coming up with a way to protect herself and her abode more fully against the coming winter. The hollow was shelter enough in milder weather, even in rain. But she knew they wouldn't last the winter if she couldn't find a way to seal heat more fully in the space, for the gaps between the roots were very large.

It was a fleeting memory of beavers that finally gave the girl the idea she needed, and Storm set to work with a will. Gathering many branching boughs and shrubs, she used the small amount of carpenter tools she'd brought to weave these together over the gaps in the tree-roots, leaving only tiny spaces in between to let smoke out. By the time she was done, there was only one gap that stretched from one root to the next, from the ground to about five and a half feet up, so that the girl only had to duck lightly to get under. She'd opted to leave that part, so that her home would still be a little open during the warmer months. For now, though, she closed the space fully with the heaviest tarp, leaving only a small entrance in one corner.

Storm stood in front of the house she'd just finished closing in that evening, cat in arms, admiring her handiwork. She'd gotten done just in time, as her birthday had come and gone, and it was now late November, and as she looked the completed project over, snow began falling from the heavily laden clouds above. Looking up sharply, the girl stared a moment at the falling ice-crystals, slowly placing Coal on the ground beside her.

"It's snowing…." Storm whispered up to the sky. "Coal, it's snowing!" she then yelled, spinning in a circle and laughing. The cat paid no mind, retreating from the rapidly dampening ground into the house as the flakes melted on the ground, which had not yet frozen. Storm, still laughing, began a strange dance around the valley, running this way and twirling that, her arms spread out to feel the large flakes hit her skin. The girl danced this way for quite some time before flopping onto her back, panting, as the snow settled on her hair and clothes, melting on her flushed face. She opened her eyes, staring up at the specks of white that seemed to just pop out of nowhere to gently float around her.

Storm finally heeded the slight shivering of her body and sat up, bits of snow falling off her front as she did so. She directed her gaze to the top edge of the circle of rocks that had sheltered her for more than three months, thanking the gods for bringing her to such a place. Just then, her gaze fell on something to the east that perplexed her. Way off in the distance, there was a bright orange glow reflecting off the thick clouds. She knew the glow was caused by a fire, and a big one at that, but the weather was constantly damp, if not rainy, and there should not have been any possibility of a fire starting. Unless….

Storm had never been able to fully explore the land she'd found herself on, being far too busy making it possible for her to live here. It was possible that there were other people there, but she'd never seen any evidence on the land or sea. But there was another idea that surfaced in her mind, one that made her blood run cold. Could she have found herself on an island inhabited by dragons?

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Dun dun dun! Yeah, trying to move it along without rushing. ...That's a bit contradictory, I think. Anyway, in case anyone's wondering, yes, Storm will eventually have a dragon, but I'm not telling which! REVIEW PLEEAASE! I really want you guys to vote on who should meet her first!

Tuffnut: I'm gonna do it! She's my girlfriend!

Hiccup: Gimme a break! You're such jerk, you'll just scare her clear off the island!

Me: ...Does this mean you guys are gonna be my muses?

Tuffnut and Hiccup: NO!

Me: *pouts* Fine.


	3. Chapter 3

Alright! I'm on a roll now! A huge thank you to those who have reviewed. You guys make me smile big!

To Alice W. Rabbit: Thank you so much fro reviewing. First one! Go you! Love your 'Eyes of a Lap Dragon' story.

To Catnip-Packet: Cool name, and I love your "Never Know What You've Got' Story. Excellent, and thanks for your review and your vote!

To StrawberryxXxKisses: Thanks for your support and vote, and I agree. Tuff would probably beat up on the poor girl like with his sister! XD

To Vampirebunnygirl: Thanks for the support. Hope you like the speed with which I write.

Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or anything else. Only this crappy laptop.

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There was not much else to do after that day, as the snow turned out to be so thick that it was miserable going just leaving the hollow, and would've been suicidal to try to climb out of the valley now. So, for the most part, the girl and cat remained cooped up under the tree, the former busying herself with more domestic jobs, like improving her bed by sewing the tarp into something that, once stuffed, would make a decent cot. She also set to repairing her worn out vest and lining her boots with the fur from several rabbits she'd managed to snare; it was bitterly cold, for there were slight drafts in her home from the ferocious wind outside. Jobs like this, as well as playing with her cat, who was nearly an adult now, kept her, if not busy, at least from being driven crazy with boredom throughout the snowy season.

Storm's thoughts lingered on possible causes of the fiery glow all during that time, but she could not come up with any plausible reasons other than humans, or dragons. If it came down to it, she _really_ hoped it was the former. People she could handle, it might even be possible for her to join them in the business of living on the island, for that was what she was sure it was. Dragon's, however, could not be compromised with. She would either have to leave, or fight them until they left her alone. She shuddered at the thought of facing any of the huge, scaly creatures. Nevertheless, when the weather turned and the snow began to clear, the girl set to making a few weapons for herself, by sharpening several strong branches into spears, and hardening the ends in the fire.

After what seemed a lifetime, spring arrived, revealing itself in bright, sunny skies when Storm emerged from her home that morning. Taking a deep breath of the crisp, still cold air, she grinned as Coal bounded out of the shelter, taking care to avoid the occasional patch of snow. Without another thought, the girl set off towards the ladder, intending to see how her little craft had fared in the months of neglect. She took her fishing rod with her, hoping to snag some food that wasn't dried on the way back.

Storm stood motionless, gaping at the sight that met her eyes: the crown of a tree, at least seven feet in length had come crashing down onto her boat, smashing it to pieces. Looking up angrily, she saw that the destruction had come from the very tree she'd tied the vessel to. She looked sadly to her faithful little craft. It had brought her here; and more importantly, how was she to go anywhere if she had to get away? After a moment, the girl gathered a few pieces of wood that she could carry, and walked home slowly, her intentions to fish quite forgotten as she worked to collect all that was left of her craft.

Unfortunately, because of the shape of the boat, the wood she brought home was of little use except for firewood, but she did manage to, with the help of a stone she'd sharpened, make notches in two roots on her tree that were near each other, and make a bench to sit on. With the very board that had been one on the craft, no less, and it was quite a bit better than sitting on the ground, or on a cold rock. A few weeks passed, with Storm busying herself with replenishing her supplies like food and moss with which to stuff her cot. As the weather grew warmer, Storm began going to the sea when it came to bathing and washing her clothes, finding that the salt was more cleansing than freshwater. Until then, she'd had to do so at the pond in her home, so that she could retreat to the warmth of her fire before the cold set too deeply, and she had to give up the practice completely during the winter. The last part hadn't been too bad, seeing as she never worked up a sweat with the lack of work.

It was on one such day, when Storm washed all her clothes in the sea water except for those she wore, and bathed herself, that it happened. She was bringing her salt-filled clothes to the pond to rinse out, when she heard a great 'whoosh' far above her head, like the down stroke of an immense pair of wings. Looking quickly to the sky, her eyes were met with nothing, and after a pause, she turned back to her work, ears straining for any more sounds. Coal paced quickly over to the girl, pressing herself close to her side, eyes fixed on the air. 'That's odd.' Storm thought to herself. 'She usually wants nothing to do with me when I'm washing. That can't be good.' She picked up the pace on her washing.

Storm had almost finished the clothes when she heard it; the sound like giant wings, this time accompanied by a roar that in a thousand years, she'd never mistake. A dragon was hunting over her home. Coal had dashed back under the cover of the hollow the second the sound had returned, and Storm scrambled back too, basket of laundry in hand. Reaching the shelter, she yanked on the tie-straps holding the tarp up, and it dropped to the ground, hiding her home from direct view. Storm rushed over to the tiny entrance in the corner, hoping against hope that the dragon hadn't seen her when it'd flown over. If it landed here, she was dead. Her smell was all over the place. Silence reigned for it seemed forever, but the girl didn't dare venture out again, and it seemed her patience was rewarded, for the sound of wings came again, and she saw the shadow of the beast as it made for her valley. Caught a glimpse of pitch-black scales as she pulled back from the hole, pinned to the inside of the tree-root.

Storm held completely still, listening as the dragon paced slowly closer, snuffling and snorting. As carefully as she listened, the girl thought she heard the slight jingling of metal, but couldn't be sure. That is, until she heard a voice, definitely a human one, speak, which shocked her so much that she sank to the ground.

"Take it easy, buddy. We don't know what's going on." Said the person, who Storm guessed was male, judging by the deep tenor tone. For the life of the girl, she couldn't tell who the person was talking to, until she heard the dragon snort, as if in response. She tensed, could this person be some sort of barbarian, having the strength to command such a beast? Storm grabbed what she deemed was her best spear from next to the door, and peeked around the tree-root carefully. From what she could see, the dragon was standing still some twenty feet from the entrance to her home, but she could see the shadow of whoever it was coming closer. The girl pulled back, bracing herself for a moment, before she struck.

Storm charged out of the narrow entrance with a yell, weapon at the ready, until she caught sight of the person. She scrambled to slow her momentum, stopping just in time for her spear to merely poke the young man in the chest, rather than run him through. He stood stock still, the expression of shock on his face easily mirroring that of the girl's. This guy could only be a little older that she was! Standing just a few inches above her 5'5 frame, he was a wiry thing, though she could detect the strength his body actually held. The boy had deeply colored brown hair, with hints of dark red in it, and bright peridot-green eyes. Storm didn't think on the strangers' appearance much longer though, as an instant later, she found herself pinned to the ground, staring up at the face of a spitting angry, midnight black dragon. She froze, terror rendering her silent and motionless, her eyes widening as the beast bared its teeth and an open-mouthed hiss.

"Toothless, NO!" the boy yelled, but the dragon did not move, staring at the girl intensely with yellow-green eyes, though it did close its mouth. Through the corner of her eye, Storm saw the stranger rush over to the dragon's side, noticing for the first time that his left leg, in fact, had been replaced by a prosthetic just past the knee. He pushed on the dragon's head, still yelling. "Toothless, get off! I'm fine, see? Down!" Amazement gradually replaced Storm's fear as, not only did the creature not bite the boy's head off, it actually listened to him, removing it's paw from her middle and backing up, though still staring at her warily. The girl didn't move for fear that it would pounce again, until the boy offered his hand to her.

"Are you alright? Sorry about that, he's more than a little protective." The young man said as Storm slowly took his hand and he helped her up. Her spear lay on the ground near them, but she felt rather disinclined to try to pick it up with the dragon still so near. "I'm Hiccup, by the way, and this is Toothless." He said, gesturing to the dragon, which punctuated the introduction with a menacing hiss. "Hey! Cut that out." Hiccup said, turning and placing a hand against the creature's head. The dragon looked over at him, its ears coming up and forward, and its pupils dilating as it looked at the boy. Finally, the beast grumbled and lay down, relaxing just a bit.

Storm watched all this with wide, disbelieving eyes, backing up and sitting heavily on the pond-side rock just behind her. This scrawny boy was controlling that huge dragon! It acted as tame as a hound around him! Hiccup turned back to her, smiling a little. "Again, sorry about that. You're not the first he's done that to, and it's pretty understandable. He can't fly without me, so of course he's seriously protective and possessive."

"Wait, he… can't fly… without you?" Storm said slowly.

"Yeah, his tail's damaged, and the part I made for him can only be adjusted by me, see?" he explained, holding the end of the tail up. Only then did the girl notice the slightly complex-looking saddle strapped to the dragon's back, ending in a fin that completed half of the creature's tail. "Um, you could tell me your name now, and maybe how you got here? I haven't seen you around the village before."

'So there are other people here.' Storm thought to herself, debating whether she should answer. She really didn't want to talk to someone who could ride a dragon, but what choice did she have? She couldn't leave now, seeing as all that remained of her boat was a bench in her house. Plus, this was their island, so she guessed she did kind of owe them an explanation. "My name's Storm." She said finally. "I came here more than eight months ago in my boat, having gotten off a ship several days south of here."

"Really?" You've been here that long?" Hiccup burst out, wide-eyed. Storm smirked a little as the boy glanced over at her home and the ladder. The shock on his face wore off as he thought. "Well, I guess it's not far-fetched. I mean, I trained Toothless here for several weeks and no one found out, and that's with everyone in the village knowing me." He said dryly.

"So you really did train that dragon?" Storm asked incredulously. It was Hiccup's turn to smirk,

"Yep. And judging from your reaction, I'm guessing you don't have high opinions of them where you come from either?"

"You got that right." The girl answered quietly. "My people are very afraid of them. We used to fight with them constantly, as they raided our food stores day after day." Hiccup nodded knowingly. "We got really good at fighting them, so eventually they weren't able to steal anything from us, and they stopped coming. Then one day, when I was little, it came instead." She paused.

"What did?" The young man asked. Before Storm could answer, Coal chose that moment to show up, jumping up onto the rock beside her. Toothless looked up quickly, returning the cat's wide-eyed stare. The girl wrapped her arms around her friend, afraid the creature's boldness might cause her to get eaten. Hiccup also looked at the feline with interest. "Is that a cat? I've heard about those; I thought they were bigger. So you didn't come alone, did you?"

Storm smiled, gently stroking the silky black fur of her friend. "No I didn't. This is Coal. She's just barely an adult, so she's not completely done growing. I've known her since she was born." Then her smile vanished. "In answer to your first question, the thing that came to our home eleven years ago was a dragon of monstrous size. As big as a mountain, it came diving out of the clouds, setting fire to entire sections of our town with each blast of fire. There was nothing we could do against it; nothing worked. It destroyed everything, and killed hundreds," she pause for such a long time, Hiccup thought maybe she was finished, then she opened her mouth again. "My father was one of that number." She said quietly.

"The raids came back right after. We tried to rebuild, but the shortage of food made it increasingly hard to get by. Finally, those of us who were left decided that it would be better to find someplace new, where there were no dragons. I very much doubt there is such a place, but who was I to smash any hope people had left? So we began building ships; many of the first ones finished carried women and children away first. I was one of the last children to leave, being one of the oldest, and there were very few others on the ship I was on. I would not have ended up here, but for some of the men on board. A few had known my father, and were kind to me, but others only saw a potential, young, pretty wife, including the captain." Storm paused again, but Hiccup remained silent, seated quietly next to his dragon.

"I couldn't bear the thought of being tied to any one of them, for women have no say against men's wishes where I come from. So I gradually filled a lifeboat with provisions I would need, acting like a carefree, senseless girl who loved nothing more than to clean up and do what I was told." The girl said bitterly, looking over the pond. "When everything was ready, I slipped the boat away, and rowed north, so that they might not find me if they turned around. For three days and nights I rowed northward, and landed here on the morning of the fourth. I followed that stream," she said, pointing to said waterway. "and ended up here." She finished, looking back at Hiccup with a determined look in her eyes, as if daring him to send her away. Hiccup stared back, taking in the last of the girl's story. After a short time he found his voice again.

"Well, I can safely say that you don't have to worry about being forced to do anything here. Many Viking men here will say, "Women and dragons will do as they please, and you best be wary of both!'" the boy said, taking on a mocking version of a large, gruff voice. Storm laughed. "I'm sorry about your dad. My mom died when I was little, so I know how you feel. And you don't have to worry about the giant dragon anymore."

"Ah, yes. Why don't you tell me how you managed to train this one?" Storm inquired briskly, indicating the black-scaled creature, which had curled up and gone to sleep soon after the cat had done the same. And so Hiccup told the girl about the adventure, starting with the fact that this particular dragon that he referred to as a Night Fury, was far faster and stronger than any other kind, and ending with the huge battle with the very same monster that'd destroyed her home.

"We decided to call the thing the Green Death, though I'll never know why. It wasn't even green. And in a month will be the second anniversary of the monster's destruction and the beginning of Vikings training dragons instead of killing them."

"I see." Storm replied, quite satisfied with the end of the beast, while also in awe of how different dragons really were from popular thinking. "Is that how…?"

"Yeah. That fight cost me my leg." The young man said simply, standing up again. "This thing managed to put a damper on my celebrations last year, but I'm hoping that won't happen this time around."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." The girl said, also standing. Looking up, she noticed how late it'd gotten during their story-swap. "Sheesh, it's gotten late. Would you maybe consider joining me for dinner? It's nothing special."

"That's nice of you, but I can't. People are always stopping by the house to talk, and everyone will wonder where I am." Hiccup replied, nudging his dragon awake. "But maybe I could visit once in a while, and maybe bring a friend?"

"Uh, I don't know if I'm ready to meet a bunch of people right now." Storm answered, suddenly finding her boots rather interesting. Then she looked up suddenly as the boy was getting in the saddle. "But you wouldn't happen to have any books, would you? It's been so long since I've read anything…." She trailed off. Hiccup smiled a little.

"I think I might be able to help you out. See ya." He said before taking off, disappearing over the treetops. Storm grinned, the prospect of a friend and a book cheered her greatly, before she walked back over to her house and re-tied the tarp. But she would certainly have a lot to think about concerning the dragons. With the Green Death gone, they no longer stole from people, and Hiccup had said that he and his friends had been training every dragon on the island. Did that mean that she no longer had reason to fear them?

* * *

Tuffnut:Yeah, so what do you crazy people think about this stuff you're reading. You do know that reviews are the only way I'll ever even show up here, right?

Me:Tuff? What are you doing here? You're early.

Tuff: You're taking forever to put me in here, so I came to watch.

Me: Cool! You guys review, kay?

Btw, I saw these awesome videos on youtube concerning this movie. they're by NekoPatronus16; if you search 'HTTYD au I forgive you', the top 2 results will go by that title. Watch those! They're really good!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys! Guess I spoke too soon, huh? Sorry, I finished the chapter yesterday, but our internet was out of commission. But here it is! I tried to accomplish lots of stuff with this one, mainly Storm's personality as her guard drops around dragons. Please tell me how this chapter is, I'm worried it may be choppy, it felt weird writing it, and please tell me if I got Hiccup's sarcasm down accurately. Thanks! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to put this down every time?**

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As it turned out, Storm was visited again by the rider of the Night Fury, and it was with great excitement that she received the leather-bound volume of parchment. Until she took a look at the cover, which was stamped with the circular image of a dragon. "This is what I'll be interested in reading?" she asked Hiccup incredulously.

"Well, I figured if you learned about them a little more, you wouldn't be scared of them." The boy said, scratching the back of his head. The Night Fury, not caring about the goings on between the humans, stalked off around the water's edge to the only spot of sun in the gray sky. The girl watched carefully; Coal was also enjoying what little sun the island had to offer, fast asleep on a heated rock.

"Um, you don't think your dragon will eat Coal, do you?"

"I think she's alright. They seem to have similar habits, and Toothless didn't show any interest last time." Hiccup turned out to be right, as the black dragon looked at the sleeping feline before curling up himself. Hiccup grinned. "See?" The girl gave a nervous grin in reply, turning and placing the book near the entrance to the hollow for later and grabbing the rabbit she'd caught that morning and a knife. Hiccup followed her over to the water's edge, sitting on the rock next to hers as she began skinning the animal. "You're not half bad at that." The boy remarked as she worked. Storm laughed.

"Please, you should have seen the first few animals I skinned last fall. I messed up so badly, I couldn't use the fur for anything, and had to throw it all out! The first couple times I scaled fish were bad too. Only practice got me where I am, I've never lived on my own like this before." Storm said as she pulled each limb out of its sock of newly removed fur.

"And you managed to survive the winter that's made Berks reputation… how?"

"Oh, probably the same way this…" Storm said, gesturing at the young man with her skinning knife "was able to completely change a generations-old lifestyle without getting burned alive, eaten, or at least banished!"

"Hey! You just gestured to… most of me." Hiccup said dryly. The girl laughed again.

"Most?" He just lifted his left leg wordlessly. Storm waved at it dismissively, removing the remaining pelt from the animal. "Ah, a missing ankle doesn't mean you're not all here. It wasn't your physical ability that saw the dragons for what they were. I think you and I have a few things in common."

"Huh?"

"We're both just a little more open-minded then those around us. Oh, and a little common sense helps too." Hiccup laughed as the girl began scraping the pelt. Just then Coal went scampering into the hollow, causing the dragon and teens to look up, the boy and the reptile at the cat, the girl at the sky. Not even a minute later, big, heavy drops of rain began falling, becoming thicker by the second. with a startled yell the boy sprung up, heading quickly for the hollow with Toothless following. Storm paid them no mind, intent on finishing her work.

Hiccup stared at the girl incredulously, causing her to turn around. "What? It's just rain, and I need to finish this now or I'll lose the fur. I'll be done soon enough. Feel free to sit there, just make sure your dragon doesn't get into my stuff." Just as she said, Storm finished with the hide a few moments later, and headed over to the hollow with it, hanging the meat on a hook on the outer root above the stream. Walking over to the fire, the girl hung the fur from a line a few feet above the flames. "Drying it out in the sun doesn't do much good without the sun." she remarked, chuckling. Hiccup grinned.

"Yep, Berk's famous weather: snow, rain, and hail. The only time we have thunderstorms is when the volcano at Helheim's gate erupts and heats the air for miles."

"Yeah, well, what are ya gonna do?" Storm said, pulling the book closer to her as she sat down next to the boy. "So this is what? Instructions?"

"Pretty much. It used to be the manual about what was dangerous about each kind of dragon, and basically said to just kill them. After the end of the Dragon-Viking war, we needed something a little different. My friend, Fishlegs, and I wrote this to explain the eating habits, temperaments, and training methods of dragons."

"Mmhm." Storm replied, flipping through the pages. "Hang on, what's this one?" she said suddenly, stopping on one page. Hiccup leaned over her shoulder.

"Ah, that's a Terrible Terror. They're small, but no less fierce than any other dragon. Actually, Terrors are more likely to flare up at something than others. Probably 'cause they're so small."

"I've never seen these before. They look funny! How can that neck possibly support that huge head?" the girl said, giggling.

"Yeah, none of my friends have a Terror, but several of the adults have taken to them."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Hold on a sec." Storm said, standing up and walking outside suddenly. A second later she returned, holding the rabbit on a spit, which she placed in the Y-shaped branches on either side of the fire. Sitting down again, the girl pushed the book aside. "Tell me more about these friends of yours."

"Oh, well, Fishlegs Ingerman has been my friend the longest, mostly because we're both a little inept when it came to fighting. He's a big guy, easily the tallest and heaviest kid on Berk, though he's a little younger than most of us. He's just kinda awkward; he'd never hurt anyone for any reason, and is an absolute nerd about dragons. He rides a Gronckle, though I'm not sure how much longer he'll be able to do that; he's already almost as big at the thing.

"Snotlout is actually my cousin on my dad's side. He's the most Viking-like of us all; he looks just like his dad, stocky and all his muscles are upper body. Snotlout's got the Monstrous Nightmare, which is one of the most dangerous dragon's to fight or own. They rather like to set themselves on fire. Then there's the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Tuff's the older of the two, barely, and is a guy, while Ruff's a girl. Those two are constantly beating on each other, but you can tell that they get along in their own way. Torment seems to be the way they show affection, as they teased me a lot less when I was a nobody. They share a Hideous Zippleback, but Ruff's looking for one of her own, since they're also getting too big for both of them to ride at once.

"And what about this Astrid girl? You mentioned her when you told me about Toothless."

"Um, well… Astrid is…." Hiccup stuttered out. Storm looked up sharply at this.

"Ooh, what's this? Does little Hiccup have himself a crush?" she said teasingly, giggling when the young man flushed.

"Um, Astrid's—" Hiccup was cut off when the sound of heavy footfalls came from the dark rain outside, approaching the hollow's entrance.

"Hiccup, that you? Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here? I was looking everywhere, you know…." The voice trailed off as a girl entered the shelter, clearly drenched from flying in the rain. She must've been Hiccup's age, with honey-blond hair and clear blue eyes, which the teens noticed were quickly clouding in suspicion. "Who's this?" she said dangerously, turning to the boy. Before he could answer, Storm stood up and took a few steps towards the stranger.

"My name's Storm. It's nice to—" Before she could finish, the girl found herself pinned to the ground yet again by her surprise visitor, this time with her eyes staring up at the girl's snarling face and an axe-blade at her neck.

"Astrid, hold it!" She's a friend and she'd new here! Let her up!" Storm's eyes widened at that as the girl turned her head.

"Oh, so this is who you've been so flustered about, Hiccup!" she said teasingly, causing Astrid's eyes to snap back to her. Storm quickly brought her empty hands up by her face, smiling nervously. After a moment, the axe retreated from her throat, and she sighed. Astrid stepped back, allowing Storm to stand back up and dust herself off. Extending her hand to the girl, she tried again. "Hi Astrid, I'm Storm. It's nice to meet you." Astrid eyed her hand warily, unsure. "Um, it's called a handshake. I guess you're not familiar with it. It's how my people greet or agree to something, depending." Storm explained, grabbing the other girl's hand and demonstrating. After looking at her hand a moment, Astrid smiled slightly.

"So, Hiccup's flustered about me?" she said as they turned to the boy, both chuckling at his spluttering red face. "I'm not surprised. He hasn't changed, though we've been a couple since very soon after the battle with the Green Death."

"Ah, I see." Storm said, smirking as she sat back down. "By the way, I'm guessing that's your dragon standing outside? There's room if it wants to come in." Astrid nodded, motioning her hand towards the thing. As it stepped out of the rain, she saw what it was. "A Nadder, huh? So between all of you, you guys have a complete set."

"Almost." Hiccup replied as Astrid took a seat on his other side and Storm turned the spit. "Like I said, no one's got a Terror, and we haven't tried to keep some of the other species. Some are too dangerous to keep, and quite a few are just untamable, by any means. But they're fine, as long as we don't bother them."

"Ah." Storm replied simply, turning her attention to the rabbit while the other two looked around in the ensuing silence.

"What are those crates for?" Astrid said suddenly, looking at the back area, where Storm had used the crates and a piece of cloth to make a simple wall, leaving enough space behind to create a sort of bedroom.

"Storage, mostly." The girl replied, poking at the fire. "I'm pretty much using everything right now, but I'd rather not live my meals day by day, so some days I'll spend just fishing and setting snares up so that I have food for a couple days. Speaking of which, rabbit's done, and you guys are free to join me, if you like." After getting agreement out of both her visitors, Storm walked over to one of the end crates and pulled several large smoked fish out of it. Cautiously stepping over to the two dragons, she set the fish in two piles near them, retreating to the fire as they came closer.

"Still nervous around them, huh?" Hiccup asked, getting a nod in reply. "That's alright, it took some of our neighbors more than a year to get used to them, and some of them are still wary. You'll love them in no time." The boy finished, grinning. Storm smiled back as she divided the meal. They three of them ended up talking for some time after eating, with the dragons dozing off their food nearby. Finally the rain thinned out some, and Storm watched as the other two got ready to head home.

"So, Storm? You think you're ready to meet the rest of our friends?" Hiccup asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure, Hiccup. It's not so much people I'm nervous about meeting, but dragons. I don't think I can handle being around a bunch of them all of a sudden." Storm hated the way Hiccup tried to prevent his face from falling. He was a great guy, really. "Tell, you what, though. You give me some time to read through that book, and I'll see how I feel afterward. Okay?" The young man's face brightened considerably at that, and it was with light heart that the three of them parted.

* * *

Alright, we're making some progress here with meetings. Now it's time for a few revelations about dragons, shall we? Reviews pwease!

Tuff: Alright! I can't wait for the festival! I'm gonna get seriously drunk!

Ruff: Like hell you will! Remember what happened last time?

Me: Hey, Ruff. What are you doing here?

Ruff: Babysitting this Troll. *points at Tuff*

Tuff: HEY!

Me: Gotta go!


End file.
